House defeats minimum wage increase

The Washington Times ^ | March 15, 2013 | Stephen Dinan

[jazusamo]

The House on Friday rejected a Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10, shooting down one of President Obama’s priorities from his State of the Union speech.

The 233-184 defeat also exposed divisions within the Democratic Party. Where Mr. Obama called for a hike from the current $7.25 to $9 an hour, congressional Democrats pushed for a $10.10 rate.

But they couldn’t muster unity even within their own ranks. Six Democrats from conservative-leaning districts voted against the wage increase, as did every single Republican who was present.

“We need jobs out there. The best approach right now is to get federal spending under control and government out of the way of the nation’s job creators,” said Rep. John Kline, Minnesota Republican, who led the opposition.

Mr. Obama’s call for a hike to $9 an hour reportedly caught labor advocates off guard. They had been working towards the $10.10 figure.

The White House has not weighed in on the $10.10 raise.

[zeestephen]

“Liberal Washington State”

Our Governor and both Senators are female Democrats.

My Congressman is a Democrat who won by almost a 50% margin.

My two state House Representatives are both Dems.

My state Senator is a Republican!

Unfortunately, he is also a leading proponent for Gay Marriage and is widely praised for his ability to “work” with Democrats.

My King County Council person is a Democrat.

My only consolation used to be one City Council member who was a passionate Conservative and free enterprise guy.

Unfortunately, two years ago he was attacked by bear while walking his dog, and, tragically, now looks like he walked right out of a zombie movie.

[jazusamo]

I hear you.

At least Baird retired and we just reelected Jaime Herrera Beutler to her second term, she seems to be pretty conservative.

[Eleutheria5]

Angry chimp noises at 11.

[RipSawyer]

“Darn it. I was going to use that to support the family of four I wanted.”
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Ah, yes and it would have provided quite handsomely for a family of four...Goldfish or Gerbils either one.

[RipSawyer]

That rate of pay would have been unimaginable for a seventeen year old part-timer in this part of the country in 1957. I worked on my dad’s farm then, I was only 13 but those I knew who had a part-time job were generally very happy if they got fifty cents an hour. Of course in real terms your $.76 cents was well over the current $7.25 per hour, at least it would have been in Carolina. You could have bought lunch for two here with that. You could have bough three gallons of gasoline with it and four during a gas war. You can’t buy two now with $7.25.

[RipSawyer]

“Thus far, government hasn’t passed legislation requiring that a private employer hire people even if they can’t afford them or don’t need them! But that may be next.”
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Actually, in effect it HAS been passed! It has been passed in the form of taxes on business and EBT benefits and all the other goodies and handouts. Of course they are not literally hired and there is no requirement for them to work but business is required to pay them through taxes.

[RipSawyer]

“Wow, what a soft touch, we thought.”
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Indeed it was, that two dollars an hour would have been convertible into two REAL SILVER dollar coins per hour back then. How much would those two silver dollars be worth in today’s money? Probably enough to make a lot of people want to chase chickens.

[Gopher Broke]

The federal government should DROP the minimum wage law, they have no business telling private enterprise what to pay their employees.